I'm a Tool! No really!!!

Well this week I thought I'd discuss the tools of my trade which is much better than tricks of the trade. A couple of people were talking/writing on podcasts and forums about what type of pencil, pen, paper etc. they use, then a daughter of a friend who follows my blog also asked to talk about my tools. How could I turn Emma down!?!

My disclaimer is that this is what I use at the moment of writing. I may change my tools as I go along finding something "better" or something "as good" but less expensive...

As for availability, this is another consideration. I tend to but at least 2 of everything. This saves me from running out before I have to order again. I am not a professional and tend to spend less time at the drawing board so you may want to pick up more than 2 of each.

What Tools?

In fact if I'm not a tool, at best I'm a tool user! Now like many of us I enjoy new stuff. I also enjoy going to my local art store(s) and seeing what is new and exciting in the illustration department. What this means to me is pencils, markers, inks, brushes, paper, rulers, tables, chairs, software, computers, paint, and whatever else I missed errr storage containers and so on... I told ya. I love tools!

Pencils:


OK. I don't spend a huge time at the art store looking at pencils. I have "flitted" from wood and lead art pencils by any company (including many sets bought as gifts by friends) to Mars Staedler drafting pencils (where you purchase the led separately and sharpen in the special rotary sharpener). One problem with the "old school" technical pencil was you had to take the bulky sharpener everywhere. Now they have an attachment that does the trick for you.

9H

8H

7H

6H

5H

4H

3H

2H

H

F

HB

B

2B

3B

4B

5B

6B

7B

8B

9B

Hardest

→

Medium

→

Softest

Lately I have gravitated towards the cheaper technical pencils from any company as my wife and father in law use em and I have an endless supply of pencil leads. As for the softness I tend to stick to HB (hard black) unless I am strictly doing a pencil sketch (no inking). In a pencil sketch I may move from H (hard) F (fine) to B (black) or 2B. I find that I smudge too much if I wander too far down the B's and I have to press too hard if I go too high up the H's...

Paper:

I use any kind of paper for my sketch ideas. When I was younger I was hung up on getting those black covered sketch books from art stores. I guess I like the idea of standardization so they could sit all neat and cool and in order when they were on my shelf... HA! Not really. They were an inexpensive option.Many art stores had them made and branded for them using fairly low quality sketch paper. The thing is, since the advent of the computer age and the relative inexpensive "fax-scanner-copier-printers" a lot of times I just use standard "8 1/2 by 11" printer paper for my ideas and then scan em into the puter. I use a clipboard from the dollar store when I am TV watching/listening and yes I still have moleskins and hard cover sketch books from the local art store...

Enough for Now:

Whew who knew I could talk so much about pencils and paper? I haven't even reached the different paper grades or markers or brushes or ink. Sigh. Sorry Emma, not that interesting I know! Go! Right now and grab an HB pencil, some paper from the printer and draw!!!

Don't waste time learning the "tricks of the trade." Instead, learn the trade. ~Attributed to both James Charlton and H. Jackson Brown, Jr.)

My Art Week:

Put down the "how to" books and read some Jeffrey Brown. Great stuff!

Did some work on my own stuff including starting an auto biographical sketch book (I think I'll call it As the Puck Strikes Me and other Hockey Stories)

Oh. Here is a quick sketch for Halloween!

I hope I get time to ink and or colour it!

Keep Creating!

ArrrOOooo!

Inspiration leads to Perspiration!

I'm gonna make you Sweat!

So where do you get your inspiration from? It can strike me anytime and any place. It can be the look of a person, animal or anything I see at my day gig (human or otherwise).
Inspiration can come from a song or pod cast on my mp3 player, or even part of a phrase or discussion! The question is how do I grow these seeds of "inspiration" into the root of an idea?

Well the seeds "usually" start in a pocket size moleskine notebook I carry with with me everywhere. I jot down ideas or even little sketches of things. I write the time and date because I like to know when I am my most creative. I can be at my day gig or visiting someone socially when I am struck by a moment of "brilliance". OK. It may seem like brilliance at the time but many times this "brilliant" idea won't make it past the inspiration stage. And that's where perspiration comes in.

On weekends I pull out the moleskine and see what I have been inspired by the this week. Most ideas lay there on the page but when one feels good enough to move on. I may scan it into my puter (if it's a drawing) or transfer the notes to another bigger notebook I have by my computer. I know this transferring from one place to another may seem like extra work to some people but for me it is kind of a litmus test. If it keeps getting transferred nearer to where I do my work then it usually means I like it and it has inspired me to perspire and meditate some more...

Where do you get your ideas? Do you use a notebook or data phone? Tape recorder or napkin?

Let me know!

My Art Week:

Due to a lot of real life stuff, I have little to add to my art week. Some scribbles and such and I am working on that Art Challenge my art buddies had complete a couple of months ago!

Keep creating!

ArrrOOooo!

Criticism! Who needs it?

Let's Get Critical! Critical. I Wanna Get Critical! (Sung to the tune of Olivia Newton John's "Physical")

Inspired by the latest podcast episode 152 of Art and Story The Big Critique



OK. Now I have put that song into your head, I may have taken you to a place where you don't want to go!



Now I'm going to take you to another place you may not want to go! It starts with the dreaded "C" word and some of you may not like it. Most don't. CRITIQUES! There I said it! Many say "critiques are necessary," but are they? I think they are.

I think they are useful when they come from peers and instructors.

I think they are useful when delivered with clear concise language.

I think they are useful to artistic and emotional growth because living in an "art vacuum" can be self defeating, self indulgent and cause one to stagnate!

What do you think?

My Art Week:

Sketching. I filled a bunch of pages of my sketchbook and re-did some thumb nails for my Underbelly comic... I went through some more DVD tutorials for Toonboom Animation Studio. I will do a review of the DVD when I have finished it...

Some sketches I am still working on for a fantasy comic book/idea I have and inking practice...














Reading/Watching:


I'm reading Marvel Masterpiece #1 The Amazing Spider-Man. I love Steve Ditko and his art and plots. You can learn a lot from his character design and panel layouts. I am watching Babylon 5 The writer creator is J. Michael Straczynski who has worked in comics and television for years but I feel this is his strongest work. It is rare that a creator writes most/all of the episodes of a TV series but this allowed him to do some excellent storytelling...

ALERT! ALERT!:

Raul Aguirre Jr.'s foray into teaching animation Intro to Animation is now out!






I will review it here once I have had a chance to watch it! Congrats Raul!

Have a great week and keep creating!

ArrrOOooo!

SWOOSH!!!

The "Just Do it" segment

"I can tell you that you won't get better by not doing. In fact logic dictates that the only thing I can tell you is that if you stop, you will fail!"

I attribute the above quote to a comic writer I heard on a podcast months ago. I can't remember his name so if you know who said it, I'd love to give him credit. This writer said that he had many friends who started in the comic book industry and out of all those friends who he started out with, he was the only one still working.

When asked what the secret to his success was he replied. "I didn't quit." Each time he heard someone had quit he thought to himself "I am succeeding because I'm still doing it. I am still here."

We all succeed by the act of doing it. We all succeed because we are still here!

Now the other question (or is it the answer?) How much should we take on?

Well this goes to a discussion I had with one of my Art and Story "mentors" Kevin W. Cross. I had said that I was losing steam in many of the projects that I was working on. He questioned the amount and size of my projects and that I "probably" needed to pare them down... This doesn't mean eliminating them. Just taking on smaller "chunks. It had been mentioned to me by Jerzy Drozd (another Art and Story mentor) and is not the first time artisits have talked about it. Especially when the projects are "personal" and not your "bread and butter"...

So I am parring down and "hopefully" with Kevin's advice and guidance (thank you Obi-Wan) you will see something done real soon!

My Art Week

So it has been a busy week as I have been doing a tutorial in "Toon Boom Studio" nothing worth posting here yet. I have done some inking and work on my Monsters Are Go tribute sketch/strip and I had an office hour (or two) with one of my mentors.

Reading Don Bluth's The Art of Animation Drawing

Bluth is one of the "masters" and he talks about his process. I can't give it a recommend yet as I am just getting into it...

I did some ink and basic colour work on a drawing of a cos play Black Canary from San Diego Comic Con. Here are they are:

24 Hour Comic Day!

It has passed and props go out to all of you who took part! You are all amazing! Check out Rob Stenzinger's 24 hour book!



Keep Creating!

ArrrOOooo!

Animate Me!

"Why Animation?"

A friend asked me recently what I was working on and I told her "I am learning to animate." "Animation, that's a lot of drawing!" she said. Hehe, yep but I like it!

I have always had a love for animation. It was a path I considered after high school but the process of drawing hundreds and thousands of pictures for months to get to a finished project did not appeal to me. Fast forward 25 years later and we have all these amazing animation programs that cut out the middle man (in a lot of cases) Okay cut out is maybe the wrong word. Simplify and speed up the process might be better word choices.

I know there are purists who say "Hand drawn is the best!" Yes, you may be right! But is it the best for me? Everyone has a different way of doing things, it is the final result that should be celebrated. I'm not saying the process shouldn't be celebrated too. I love hearing about other artist's process. I always will. But what works for them may not work for me. Cartoonist Jerzy Drozd always prefaces his discussion of his process by saying "it is what works for him," and is "not the only way to do it." I like that. Also experimenting is what leads to different results. Sometimes better!

"My Art Week"

Reading more about animation (see last post).

As for drawing, sometimes the big projects can get tiresome and I need a break. I did pencil a page of my mini comic (not ready to show it) and I storyboarded an idea for a short animation but the rest of the week was spent mostly doodling. I did some quick sketches while watching Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes and doodle to music on the puter.

"Stuff to Show"

I did a comic for an art challenge that lost steam last month but I need something other than scribbles and doodles. It is based on a character from Kevin W. Cross' Monsters Are Go! and it is the first pencil some inks and I want to colour it but it ain't done yet...




Keep on creating!

ArrrOOooo!

All the Possibilities

This is a shout out to all my homies. My art buddies and super frenz who find the strength to keep going even when they feel like a "bag of turtles".




This has been one of those weeks for me. I have had a variation of some sort of cold for the last 7 days and I haven't felt like doing anything but sleep. I did find the energy "somehow" to work, come home and sleep. OK. I went to my first league hockey game but before you bust my ass saying "sure, you found the energy to "play a game"! I went to hockey because I am coach, manager, and beer bringer and we had 6 new players joining us this week (and 2 other guys called in sick!).

So what has this to do with art and creating? Well, It is a complement to last week's blog of doing what makes you feel good. OK. That makes sense, right? Well what happens when you are on a deadline, self imposed or otherwise? How do you make it to the "finish line" when you are sick? I have the "luxury" of having a day job that pays me whether I show up for work or not. That is the glory of working for a government corporation... But, what about those of you out there who are self employed? I know who you are! My wife is one of you. How do you find the intestinal fortitude to push through? Yes. I know that money or paycheck to live is a great motivator but it has to be more... Most artists know they aren't going to become rich doing their art so it needs to be more. That is it! It is need. Not need for the paycheck but the need to be creating. I know, I know. I mention this a lot. A lot! But why else would you do it? The paycheck isn't huge. It isn't always regular. It probably won't ever be. But the payoff is in the process. The payoff is in the completion and the constant motion of creating. Of improving, and all the possibilities...

This week came down to mostly reading about art and reading a couple of trades.



Mouse Guard Vol. 1 is drawn and written by David Petersen and is an epic "tail" of a medieval forest society where Mice live and speak like men and have all of the same problems...

The Guard are the protectors of the mouse society and they must go on a quest to save their way of life.

It is beautifully illustrated and is appropriate for all ages.


Oh and it got me wanting to do a "very quick, very rough, mouse animation.




Hey guys if you're sick, feel better and keep creating!


ArrrOOooo!

Do What Makes You Feel Good!

So I sit here pumped that two thirds (Mark, Jerzy) plus (Sara "knifeman" Turner) of the Art and Story crew are having a good time at SPXPO! Nothing is better than having some great interaction with fellow creators. Getting positive feedback from the crowd is great and selling some books just tops it all off!

So if you follow what I say not as I do ;) then you know I have a love for comics, animation, drawing and writing... I began 2010 with a goal of completing a comic, actually a graphic novel I have been planning and working on (actually off and on) for the last couple of years. I have been lucky enough to get support from a collective of artists that are members of the Art an Story Supreme family or as they are affectionately known "Storriors". They have their own projects they are working on but whenever I have a question there are more than a few ready to help.

So where am I going with this? Well, I'm not sure... When I have some spare time I find myself working in Toonboom Studio and loving it. It is similar to cartooning but very different at the same time. I have spent a lot of time learning to draw a proper walk sequence and I still haven't got it down. Not surprising since some animators work their whole life to master a good walk sequence! I may post some of my trials soon...

As for comics, I still have my comic ideas and I will finish that mini! Just not right now... I am doing what makes me feel good and isn't that what life is all about!

I am reading:

Get animated! : creating professional cartoon animation on your home computer by Tim Maloney



It's got some interesting ideas in regards to creating animation on your home computer. I think the book suffers from spreading itself a little thin by trying to cover too much. A worthwhile read for those just starting out or interested in creating animation as a hobby. Students considering animation as a profession could also benefit from this book...

Keep Creating!

ArrrOOooo!